How Qatar was involved in killing two famous Syrian opposition activists

On Friday, gunmen assassinated two of the most prominent Syrian opposition activists, Raed al-Faris and Hamoud Junaid, in the northern Syrian town of Qarnubal, in the north of the Syrian Arab Republic.

Al-Faris and Jneid are among the most salient aspects of peaceful work in the north of Syria. He was the director of the radio station “Fresh” in Kufranbal, which criticizes radical Islamic groups, including the Nasra Front. He believed that radio would serve as a platform to spread awareness against radical extremist groups, He is also the director of the Revolutionary Office Union (URB).

“I have known them for at least four years from the early days of the liberation,” Ayman Akkad, 30, a friend of his, told CNN.

“Raed is the one I go to when I want a thorough honest advisory … totally honest and straightforward. He was always joking about how many times he found hidden bombs around his house, he wouldn’t buy a car because it would be his grave,” Akkad said.

“He led an everlasting battle for democracy and prosperity of Syria. He advocated for right during the times of fear when everyone was silent. My reaction was like I was waiting for it, I kind of knew it. … It sounded familiar, but it was heartbreaking that it happened.”

The assassination of Nasirah coincided with the seizure of property belonging to Christians in Idlib, which sent letters to Idlib’s landlords in order to hand them over by the end of November.

These new, old violations prompted opposition activists to raise their voices and condemn the atrocities committed by the Frente Front, highlighting the role played by Qatar in nurturing this extremist faction.

In a clear picture of Doha’s support for this organization, Qatar’s Al-Jazeera satellite channel hosted its leader Mohammed al-Julani several years ago and sent its journalists to the group’s headquarters in Syria.

Syrians are fighting the revolution as they hope their options would not be confined to the Assad regime or the Islam extremist group on the other hand but this has become harder to achieve ever since Qatar has once again expressed its support towards hardline organisations in Syria and bet on it to make progress on the ground.

Role of Qatar – Turkey

The Syrian opposition, Ghassan Ibrahim, said that the victory front would not have guaranteed a foothold in the north of Syria without the presence of Turkish support, or to turn the tide at best, by virtue of the strong alliance between Doha and Ankara and adopt the two capitals an identical approach in the Syrian file.

“The recent assassination of Syrian opposition activists in Idlib is only one episode of Turkish and Qatari efforts to wipe out any non-radical party in the Syrian revolution,” he said in an interview with Sky News. “The activists aspire to a better alternative and do not accept to dissolve.”

He also stressed that the role of Doha was a disaster for the Syrian revolution. Because of Qatar’s support for the militant organizations, Western countries withdrew their support for the opposition after it was constantly calling for Assad’s departure and talking about his few days in power. But today he accepts a political solution that keeps him in office.

He explains that the pro-Turkish “liberation of the sham” militants do not differ much from the pro-Tehran militias. In both cases, loyalty to the country is lost and radical ideologues and narrow calculations are brought.

While the “Liberation of the Sham” is talking about hostility with the regime, the organization’s hard-line practices are targeting all dissenting voices, even though people known to oppose the regime in a civilized manner are admired abroad.